So, you all seem to have plenty of opinions on this here board. I am looking to replace my current truck with a more modern one. Looking for somewhere late 1990s early 2000s diesel. Extended cab (or up to crew), 8' bed, 4wd, working A/C are pretty much all I need. I have looked at some gas engine trucks (like today - 2005 F250 w/5.4L gas and 186K miles!) and have found that most trucks with the big cab and the 8' bed are diesel. I don't know a lot about diesel dependability. So, how many miles are a lot on a diesel? What years/displacements/makes are known to be troublesome? Any opinions are welcome.
I plan to haul the occasional yard waste, the occasional home improvement stuff (like a bunch of dry wall), a trailer or two full of dirt or track bikes, and maybe go up into the mountains once in a while, ... etc with it. It is not a daily driver, so I don't want to spend a lot of cash here. I have seen some nice 2007 trucks for $36K. You really have to be smoking something to pay that much for a used truck, IMHO.
On a slightly related note - who wants to buy a 1995 F250 XL, long bed, single cab, 118K miles, basic work truck cheap ($3K). Please note - no air conditioner...